HMT Verdala March 1916 British West Indies Regiment (Jamaica)

HMT Verdala March 1916 British West Indies Regiment (Jamaica)

Remembering the ill-fated 4th Battalion (3rd Jamaica War Contingent - 25 officers, 1115 men) of the British West Indies Regiment who sailed under the command of Lieut.- Col. John George Vaughan Hart on HMT Verdala on 6 March 1916. All of the men were volunteers. The ship sailed under sealed orders and had been told to steer a course north toward Canada to avoid enemy submarines. Without winter uniforms or heating on board, they arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia in the middle of a blizzard. The seriously ill were hospitalised, with 6 men dying from exposure-related illness. The ship headed back for Bermuda taking over 500 suffering from milder frostbite who stayed there until they were recovered. Pte 4829 Claudius Hanson was one of the 7 men who died on the island between 5 and 18 April, and 3 or 4 suffered amputations. The remainder of the battalion finally arrived at Plymouth on 6 June. After a short period the 4th Battalion embarked on 15 July and arrived in Alexandria, Egypt on 31 July 1916. As a result of their disabilities some men have pension records, many being discharged immediately at Withnoe camp, but for the remainder of these men there are only medal records because they managed to survive. So they sailed from home, served in the war and then sailed home again, with the regiment not invited to the Peace (Victory) Parade held in London July 1919 // incomplete

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jamwgw/3contin.htm

Created by: , Deborah102878

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